The perils of climate change will determine how we eat and how we commute. Reducing carbon footprint is high up on nearly every nation’s agenda. Regardless of Donald Trump pulling out of the Paris climate accord, investors are betting big on Elon Musk’s Tesla and Patrick Brown’s Impossible Foods. Tesla, possibly a future leader in electric vehicles, is more valuable than General Motors is today. Impossible Foods – challenging the meat industry with its plant-based burger that bleeds – has raised nearly $200 million so far from investors such as Khosla Ventures, Google Ventures and Bill Gates.

Protecting the cow, and the environment, are two priorities on India’s political sphere. Some media reports have referred to the former as food fascism or an attack on secularism. Whatever the reason (certainly not because livestock produces 14.5% of all greenhouse-gas emissions), the country’s recent ban on the trade of cattle for slaughter will have a dire effect on India’s beef and leather export industries.

On the other side of the table, the Indian government is promoting the adoption of climate-smart practices with its vision to electrify all vehicles by 2030. No doubt this will hurt some industries, but the disruption will provide business opportunities for many others.

As always, we hope you enjoy reading our newsletter, and we look forward to your comments.

Best regards.

Does the Indian economy need a slaughter ban?

by Rathin Shah

The recent ban on the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter by the union government might be politically motivated; but more than that, it is going to impact India economically. The ban is only limited to cattle which includes bovines (cows, buffaloes, calf, bulls). Though it is obvious that the ban is going to impact employment and the exports of leather and meat from India, let’s see the magnitude of this impact.

An economist from Stanford University, Tony Seba, is causing much anxiety in the energy and automobile sectors. He predicts that people in the US will stop owning vehicles. Annual manufacturing of new cars in the country will drop by 70%, electric vehicles will rule its roads, and the geopolitical importance of oil will vastly diminish. No doubt this will hurt some industries, but the disruption will provide business opportunities for many others.